Capital Spice

If you thought the winter months meant the DC food truck scene would be heading into hibernation, you were sorely mistaken.  It’s not just the unexpected warm weather that’s keeping Washington’s rolling restaurateurs in the news.  We wanted to let you know about two items of note this week – one of them especially interesting if you’re a government employee and you’re hungry tomorrow.

First, we’ve seen several members of the DC Food Truck Association posting about a toy drive that the association is undertaking to benefit My Sister’s Place.  Participating trucks are accepting donations of new, unwrapped toys every day from now until December 15th.  The toys will be given to children staying at the shelter during the holidays.

My Sister’s Place has been serving victims of domestic violence in the Washington area with emergency shelter for more than 30 years.  They have since expanded their services to include transitional housing assistance, counseling, and a program for immigrants victims of domestic violence, as well.  They have helped more than 1,100 families in need.

Want to know if your lunch destination will be accepting toys on behalf of My Sister’s Place?  Your safest bet is to tweet them and ask – they’ll likely welcome the chance to remind their followers that they’re helping. But chances are they will be participating…the DC Food Truck Association lists more than 20 members on their website, and a quick search for the #DCFTA hashtag on Twitter turned up tweets from TastyKabob, AZNEats, Rolling Ficelle, PORC, the Cheesecake Truck, DC Empanadas and Cajunators asking customers to bring toys.

Second, we’ve got some good news for you if you work in the public sector.  GovLoop, the social network that connects more than 50,000 federal, state and local government employees and provides insight into issues like federal benefits open season, is celebrating their 50,000th member (in just three years).  That means free food for you, if you’re a government employee.

GovLoop has partnered with CapMac and BBQ Bus to provide free lunches for the first 500 public sector employees who show proof of employment tomorrow (Thursday, December 8th).  Your freebies await as follows:

-200 free lunches from CapMac at Federal Triangle, with your choice of classic macaroni and cheese with a drink or goat cheese macaroni and cheese with a drink

-300 free lunches from BBQ Bus at L’Enfant Plaza, featuring your choice of a pulled pork sandwich with chips and a drink or three bean vegetarian chili with a drink

Both trucks will open for service at 11:30 and will be serving until all of the giveaways have been claimed or until 1:30, whichever comes first.  To claim your free lunch, bring a government ID, business card or some other proof of employment.  And don’t forget – this isn’t just limited to federal employees, so state and local workers can take advantage of these deals, too.

Watch Twitter for each truck’s exact location, and definitely plan to be early.  The only thing longer than a food truck line is a food truck line waiting for free food!

Just a quick note while we’re confirming and contacting the winners of our BONMi Giveaway…

In case you haven’t heard, today is the fifth and final Truckeroo food truck gathering in the Bullpen down near Nationals Park.  They’re calling it Truckerboo in honor of Halloween, and you’re invited to Trick or Eat from now until midnight.  There will be live music, more than twenty-five food trucks, costume contests with cash prizes and unseasonably cold weather.

Participating trucks this time around include:

AZN Eats
Surfside Truck
BBQ Bus
Big Cheese
Cajunators
CapMac
Curbside Cupcakes
Dangerous Pies DC
DC Empanadas
DC Slices
Eat Wonky
El Floridano
Fojol Bros
Halal Gyro
Hula Girl
Orange Cow
PORC
Pleasant Pops
Red Hook Lobster
Sang on Wheels
Sauca
SweetBites
TaKorean
Tasty Kabob
Yellow Vendor
Basil Thyme

Check out the website for a great aggregated page with all the participants’ Twitter feeds and additional information about the event.

Ever wonder how Truckeroo came about?  It’s a joint venture of Georgetown Events and the DC Food Truck Association.  We’ll be bringing you more information about both organizations – and what the future holds for Truckeroo – in a regular feature that we’ll be rolling out soon.  Keep an eye out for “Food Truck Fridays” here at Capital Spice!

Image Credit: Pressed Magnolia Studio

When we told you about FryCaptain’s debut yesterday, we warned you that there were a couple of additional food truck launches on the very near horizion.

Is today soon enough for you?

Wonky Truck has done a few test runs over the past two weeks, and today they go live.  They’ve even got a new website up and running, though they’ll continue to post location updates via Twitter (@eatwonky) and Facebook.  Hungry fans can find them at Franklin Park today from 11:30 to 2 to find out what all the fuss is about.

Image Courtesy eatWonky

I had the chance to chat with Jeff Kelley, one of the pair behind the Poutine Machine, and he gave me some more information on the gravy-and-cheese curd concept that he and partner Minas Kaloosian are about to unleash on the DC dining scene.  Like any good politically-minded Washingtonian, I wanted to see just what makes a Wonky Dog so wonky.

As it turns out, wonky means “a little off-center” in Canadian slang – the perfect description for the idea of putting cheese curds, gravy and fries on top of a hot dog.  But somehow that’s exactly the idea that Jeff and Minas came up with upon first tasting poutine in Vancouver.  So all you policy wonks with a dream of chucking it all and starting a new career as a food truck driver/chef will have to find a new inspiration (may we suggest the guys at Pork Barrel BBQ?).

Kelley gave us a few hints of things to come and a look at the truck’s menu board.  Check them out after the jump. (more…)

It’s official!  After test runs on Friday night in Adams Morgan and Saturday evening in Dupont Circle, the newest food truck to hit the streets will be serving its first lunch crowds today.

FryCaptain, the brainchild of Jake Sendar, will be bringing crisp, hot french fries (complete with an array of flavorful dipping sauces) and cold, thick milkshakes to compete with the lobster rolls, frozen yogurt, cupcakes and all the other food truck treats.  And they’re not a moment too soon – there are at least two other trucks scheduled to start making the rounds within the next week.

We talked with Jake and his fry chef Rusty to get an idea of what to expect when the truck pulls up to its first stop – 1 Massachusetts Ave., NW (near Union Station) - today.

We asked about the fries and learned that they’re cut and prepped each day before service begins, then fired up hot on the spot.  For now, at least, they’re cooking the fries in a trans-fat free vegetable oil, but they’re still looking into other options and may consider peanut oil or another option down the road.  They are also committed to bringing their promised duck-fat fries online within the next few weeks, though they’re rolling out with just the basic fries for now.

Funky flavors for dipping sauces and shakes after the jump. (more…)

<<EDIT 8/13/10 11:23 AM: Bummer!  Apparently the truck is out of commission for the day.  Red Hook has tweeted:

So, we’re not as weatherproof as our favorite hard-shelled friends and Friday the13th demons struck our truck. So sorry. Hope to roll Mon.

Here’s hoping for a speedy recovery and a smooth opening run on Monday!>>

By the time you read this, Red Hook Lobster Pound may have already tweeted the site of their first stop (Brooklyn-based owner Susan Povich has already spilled the beans on their New York feed).  If that’s the case, you can bet that a line is already forming to greet them upon arrival, regardless of weather.  Before Red Hook had served even their first sample, they had more than 1900 followers hanging on their every update about when their mobile lobster shack would be hitting the street.

Well the wait is finally over, and we can say from experience it was worth it.  Last night the team behind Red Hook Lobster DC threw a launch party for some of their most eager fans and media types.  Guests enjoyed tastes of the truck’s signature lobster rolls as well as Cape Cod chips, shrimp rolls, whoopie pies and Maine Root sodas.  We gathered in the grassy park-like space where M and 2nd Streets meet in Southeast, near the Nationals’ stadium. (HINT: Apparently the Red Hook folks thought it was a good location…just saying.)

At the kick-off party we had a chance to meet Susan as well as Doug Povich (Susan’s cousin) and Leland Morris, the guys behind Red Hook Lobster Pound’s Washington operation.  The mood was festive despite the fact that we all huddled under a pair of tents while a storm blew through.  The mobile restaurateurs were effusive with their praise of their DC followers as they shared their excitement to be hours away from opening.

So what was that delectable-looking lobster roll like?  And what do you need to do to be ready when they come to your neighborhood?  Find out after the jump. (more…)